What names are there more in the world? The most common name in the world

The enthronement, which took place in the winter of 2009, chose Metropolitan Kirill as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. The highest body of the church held a vote, as a result of which more than 70% of the votes were cast for the priest, elevating him to the rank of Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.

Priest's family

The Church path of the Patriarch is in many ways natural, since the grandson and son of a priest chose the fate of a clergyman. The priest, named Vladimir at birth, was born in the fall of 1946, in the city on the Niva - Leningrad. Grandfather of the Patriarch, Vasily Stepanovich, went through seven exiles and more than 40 prison camps, including exile to the Solovetsky Islands, and during the reign of Khrushchev he was ordained a priest.

Vladimir's father, Mikhail Gundyaev, a leading engineer in military Leningrad during the siege, repeating his father's path, was persecuted and went through the Kolyma camps, and in the spring of 1947 became a deacon. Having lived decent life priest, Mikhail Vasilievich completed his life path rector of St. Nicholas Church.

The mother of the future patriarch was school teacher, taught German. In addition to Vladimir, the family raised two more children; the boy was the middle child. All children are related to the Russian Orthodox Church. My brother is an archpriest and rector of the cathedral in the cultural capital of our country, a professor at St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. The younger sister, heads the Orthodox gymnasium.

Chosen path

The life path of the Patriarch developed as follows:

• In 1961, having completed eight years of schooling, the young man left his parents' home.

• In 1962 he got a job in a cartographic bureau and worked as a technician on a geological expedition.

• Three years later, having received the Metropolitan’s blessing, he entered the Leningrad Theological Seminary. In the spring of 1969, having completed his studies with honors at the Theological Academy, he was tonsured a monk and received the monastic name Kirill. A few months after his ordination as hierodeacon becomes a hieromonk.

• By the beginning of the nineties, he was appointed chairman of the commission of the Holy Synod. Being in the rank of archimandrite, by appointment of the Patriarchate he becomes its representative at the council of churches held in Switzerland. In 1976, he deals with problems of Christian unity and relations between churches. In winter 1984 he becomes archbishop.

• Kirill becomes metropolitan in 1991. Between the second and third World Russian Council, he criticized the authorities. The Council adopted a number of political, radical decisions, which the Metropolitan, being its co-chairman, did not resist. Having become less oppositional, in 1995 Metropolitan Kirill becomes Deputy Head of the event.

• After the death of the Moscow Patriarch, at the convened meeting of the Synod, by voting, which was secret, Metropolitan elected to the position of Patriarchal Locum Tenens.

Patriarchate

In 2009, by the decision of the highest church assembly, Metropolitan Kirill became Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. The years of Kirill's reign influenced not only the church world, but also affected the state's economy, turning it for the better. Thanks to the Patriarch’s frequent trips around the country and the world, the position of the Russian Church in the world became stronger, and trips abroad were able to begin expanding the boundaries of cooperation between countries.

Family and children - church and flock

The church canons of the Orthodox Church do not allow the Patriarch to have a secular family. The flock, in the understanding of the church, is his family. And serving God highest manifestation care and love for your family. The priest considers each of the parishioners to be his child. The Patriarch spends every day of his life caring for his children.

Kirill devotes a large amount of time and energy to charity, meeting with children, caring for orphans, he sets an example for his entire flock, showing through his own actions that caring for others is not just sympathy with words, but also concrete actions.

The Orthodox Patriarch is engaged in both charity and foreign policy activities, boldly voicing his opinions and ideology.

Patriarch Kirill is a rather bright personality in educational activities. Since 1994, the priest has been hosting a series of television programs, “The Word of the Shepherd,” in which he explains in detail to believers the answers to questions that concern his flock. A series of books and articles written by Kirill have been published describing the history of Christianity.

Active civil position The Patriarch moves him just as violently social activities. Three hundred thousand people signed Kirill’s appeal calling for a ban on abortion in our country. Instead of carrying out abortions, it was proposed to increase payments for children born so that health and family would be protected by the state.

Patriarch Kirill is undoubtedly a bright and interesting personality; his care and love for his flock cannot go unnoticed. Faith in justice and goodness moves the clergyman forward, being a worthy example for everyone living on earth.

Why should God’s servant Kirill thank the “galley slave”?
What did the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church do in the “dashing 90s”?

Since the 1990s, Metropolitan Kirill has acquired a new title - “Tobacco”. In addition, Orthodox bloggers drew attention to the enormous importance in Kirill’s life of his passion for alpine skiing: this hobby is supported by a villa in Switzerland and a private jet, and in Krasnaya Polyana it helps to consolidate informal relationships with strongmen of the world this...

Patriarch Kirill (Gundyaev), following the “laws of the genre,” habitually criticizes the 90s. Although it was then that he gained a position and amassed a fortune that allowed him to eventually occupy the patriarchal throne. Before ascending this throne, Cyril’s personal fortune was estimated by some experts at $4 billion.

Celebrating the third anniversary of his enthronement on February 1, Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate invited Vladimir Putin, who visited him, to hold a detailed conversation in a calmer atmosphere with the leaders of the “traditional” faiths of Russia. Putin agreed, and the meeting took place on February 8. The main speaker was, of course, Cyril, although several muftis, a rabbi and assistant, a lama, Protestant pastors and a Catholic priest were allowed to briefly sing their praises of the national leader. Only the Old Believer Metropolitan Cornelius remained silent - but not because he was too disgusted by such “hosannas”, but out of natural modesty. Also speaking from the Russian Orthodox Church MP were Metropolitans Hilarion and Juvenaly, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin and the chief PR man, as well as the censor of the Patriarchate, Vladimir Legoida.

The patriarch told Putin that he was thinking about “our future president.” Of course, the hall froze when Kirill warned: “I must speak quite openly as the Patriarch, who is called to speak the truth, not paying attention to either the political situation or propaganda accents...” Here it is, the “duty of patriarchal sorrow” mentioned in the statutes of the Russian Orthodox Church MP, that is, the duty of the head of the church to intercede before the powers that be on behalf of the persecuted, unjustly oppressed, and prisoners of conscience. “Will he really talk about political prisoners?” - flashed through my head. But nothing unexpected happened, the “patriarchal sorrow” did not take place again. With utmost directness, the patriarch said “that you personally, Vladimir Vladimirovich, played a huge role in correcting this crookedness of our history of the dashing 90s. I would like to thank you. You once said that you work like a slave in the galleys, with the only difference being that the slave did not have such a return, but you have a very high return.”

Well, let’s take a closer look at this “curvature of our history” and what fruits this curvature personally brought to Russian citizen Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev, named Kirill in monasticism.

Start of business V.M. Gundyaev was founded in 1992-1994. The most extensive dossier on this business was compiled by Dr. historical sciences Sergei Bychkov, who published dozens of articles, mainly about the tobacco business of the future patriarch. None of his publications were officially refuted; in many ways, Kirill admitted that the facts collected by Bychkov were true.

Cigarettes

In 1993, with the participation of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Nika financial and trading group arose, the vice-president of which was Archpriest Vladimir Veriga, commercial director of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR MP), which was headed by Kirill. A year later, under the Government of the Russian Federation and under the DECR MP, two “parallel” commissions appeared on humanitarian aid: the first decided what aid could be exempt from taxes and excise taxes, and the second imported this aid through the church line and sold it commercial structures. Thus, most tax-exempt aid was distributed through the regular trade network, at regular market prices. Through this channel, in 1996 alone, the DECR MP imported about 8 billion cigarettes into the country (data from the government commission on humanitarian aid). This caused serious damage to the “tobacco kings” of that time, who were forced to pay duties and excise taxes and therefore lost in the competition of the DECR MP; it is believed that they “ordered” an information campaign to expose Kirill’s business. According to Bychkov, when Kirill decided to leave this business, more than $50 million worth of “church” cigarettes remained in customs warehouses. During the criminal war, in particular, an assistant to deputy Zhirinovsky, a certain Zen, was killed for these cigarettes. And here is a letter from the State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation to the Moscow Customs Administration dated February 8, 1997, regarding “church” cigarettes: “In connection with the appeal of the Commission on International Humanitarian and Technical Assistance under the Government of the Russian Federation and the decision of the Chairman of the Government dated January 29, 1997 No. VC-P22/38 authorizes customs clearance of tobacco products in the prescribed manner with payment only of excise duty that entered the customs territory before 01/01/97, in accordance with the decision of the above-mentioned Commission.”

So, in fact, since then Metropolitan Kirill has been given a new title - “Tobacco” (however, now he is no longer called that). Now it is customary to call it “Lyzhneg” - with light hand Orthodox bloggers who drew attention to the enormous importance in the life and work of Kirill of his passion for skiing (this hobby is served by a villa in Switzerland and a private jet, and in Krasnaya Polyana it helps to consolidate informal relationships with the powers that be).

What adds piquancy to Kirill’s tobacco business is the fact that in Orthodoxy smoking is considered a sin: it is actually detrimental to human health and life. Kirill himself tried to justify his participation in this business: “The people who were involved in this did not know what to do: burn these cigarettes or send them back? We turned to the government, and it made a decision: recognize this as a humanitarian cargo and provide the opportunity to implement it.” Government representatives categorically denied this information, after which Patriarch Alexy II liquidated the DECR MP commission and created a new ROC MP Commission on humanitarian assistance, headed by Bishop Alexy (Frolov).

But let us return to the “dashing years” when the “curvature of our history” arose. In addition to the aforementioned Nika Foundation, the DECR MP was then the founder commercial bank"Peresvet", JSC "International Economic Cooperation" (IEC), JSC "Free People's Television" (SNT) and a number of other structures. The most profitable business Kirill after 1996 began to export oil through the MES, exempted from customs duties at the request of Alexy II. Kirill was represented at the MES by Bishop Victor (Pyankov), who now lives as a private citizen in the USA. The company's annual turnover in 1997 was about $2 billion.

Due to the confidentiality of this information, it is now difficult to understand whether Kirill continues to participate in the oil business, but there is one very eloquent fact. A few days before the start of the US military operation against Saddam Hussein, Kirill’s deputy, Bishop Feofan (Ashurkov), flew to Iraq.

Seafood

According to Portal-Credo.Ru, in 2000, information was made public about Metropolitan Kirill’s attempts to penetrate the market of marine biological resources (caviar, crabs, seafood) - the relevant government structures allocated quotas for catching Kamchatka fish to the company established by the hierarch (JSC Region). crab and shrimp (total volume - more than 4 thousand tons). According to Kaliningrad journalists, Metropolitan Kirill, as the ruling bishop of the ROC MP diocese in the Kaliningrad region, participated in an automobile joint venture in Kaliningrad. It is characteristic that Kirill, even after becoming patriarch, did not appoint a diocesan bishop to the Kaliningrad see, leaving it under his direct control.

In 2004, Nikolai Mitrokhin, a researcher at the Center for Shadow Economy Research at the Russian State University for the Humanities, published a monograph on the shadow economy. economic activity ROC MP. The value of the assets controlled by Metropolitan Kirill was estimated in this work at $1.5 billion. Two years later, journalists from Moscow News tried to count the assets of the head of the church Ministry of Foreign Affairs and came to the conclusion that they already amounted to $4 billion.

And according to information The New Times, in 2002, Metropolitan Kirill bought a penthouse in the “House on the Embankment” overlooking the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This, by the way, is “the only apartment in Moscow registered specifically in the name of the metropolitan by his secular surname Gundyaev, about which there is a corresponding entry in the cadastral register.”

Another attribute of this life that has become the subject of widespread discussion is a Breguet watch worth about 30 thousand euros, which Ukrainian journalists photographed on the patriarch’s left hand next to the monastic rosary. This happened the day after Kirill pompously broadcast live on the main Ukrainian television channels: “It is very important to learn Christian asceticism... Asceticism is the ability to regulate one’s consumption... This is a person’s victory over lust, over passions, over instinct. And it is important that both rich and poor possess this quality.”

The luxurious motorcades of Patriarch Kirill and the security services from the Federal Protective Service that he uses have become the talk of the town. In Moscow, when the patriarch is driving, all the streets along his route are blocked, which naturally causes mass indignation among car owners. In Ukraine, Kirill’s half-kilometer motorcades completely shocked local residents: in the neighboring country, even the president travels much more modestly.

We must, however, give Kirill his due: for official visits he charters planes from Transaero, and uses his personal fleet only for personal purposes.

A separate and almost inexhaustible topic is the palaces and residences of the patriarch. Kirill strives to keep up with the top officials of the state in this matter. The newly built palace in Peredelkino was considered his permanent residential residence, for which several houses of local residents were demolished. From the windows of trains in the Kyiv direction, it looks like a large Russian tower - like the Terem Palace in the Kremlin. Kirill doesn’t like living there: the railway passing next door worries him. Therefore, the current patriarch ordered to redecorate the palace in the Danilov Monastery, which did not look poor before. The construction of the patriarchal palace in Gelendzhik, next to the legendary “Putin’s palace” in Praskoveevka, was not without scandals. As in the case of Putin, the patriarch’s palace primarily aroused the indignation of local environmentalists: it was built on the territory of a nature reserve, during construction many trees listed in the Red Book were cut down, and the palace territory blocked access to the sea for local residents. There are patriarchal residences in all more or less large monasteries in Russia.

Export of capital is blessed

But let's return to the Danilov Monastery. After the head of Putin’s headquarters, Govorukhin, uttered wonderful, highly spiritual words that under Putin, corruption in Russia has finally acquired civilized forms, it no longer seems strange that Patriarch Kirill welcomes the outflow of capital from Russia (after all, his own savings are not kept in his homeland) . “The fact,” Kirill told Putin, “that today in Spain, when it is one of the prosperous countries, real estate is being sold en masse by Spaniards and bought en masse by Russians is a very good signal to the whole world. A country that is poor, that is in crisis, cannot afford what rich countries do not allow today.”

Although the phrase is confusing, it is clear that, from a Christian point of view, we must identify “ beautiful life» nouveau riche abroad with the glory and wealth of our country.

So, if Putin is again president, as Kirill prophesies, then we can assume that “Sergianism” (the policy of complete subordination of the Church to power), which Chekist Putin spoke so warmly about in his speech, is once again demonstrating its advantages over Christian confession and martyrdom. To which the patriarch, whose earthly life is protected by FSO employees, can hardly strive so much.

After the blessed death of Patriarch Alexei II, by the grace of the assistance of the Holy Spirit, the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church on January 27, 2009 in Moscow in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior elected Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad as His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. The election took place by secret ballot.

The election of Metropolitan Kirill as patriarch was not a surprise to many of us. Because we all knew the Bishop well from his frequent appearances in the media, when he was still a metropolitan and headed the Department of External Church Relations. We all, of course, want to know about his childhood, youth, and in general about what kind of person he is, our Patriarch. We won’t get away from this; people are always curious about it. To meet the interests of the believers of our country, Archbishop of Volokolamsk Illarion (Alfeev) wrote the book “Patriarch Kirill. Life and worldview." The preface of the book says so: this book was written in response to numerous requests from people both within the Church and outside the Church, who are interested in the personality of the new patriarch.” Already during his previous ministry he was public person because he always takes a very active life position. As His Holiness himself writes: “My principle of life is do it and do it today, never put it off.” And for all of my life, it’s not that big yet, thank God, great life he did so much! Church calendar for this year opens with an article that lists small print positions of the patriarch, commissions that he headed, numerous state and church awards, theological works... All this takes up five pages. Today we will talk mainly about his biography.

But before talking about him, of course, I would like to talk about his family. The Patriarch is a third generation clergyman. His paternal grandfather Vasily Stepanovich Gundyaev was born in Astrakhan, and in 1903 the family of the patriarch’s great-grandfather moved to the city of Lukoyanov Nizhny Novgorod province. Vasily at that time worked as a mechanic driver at a railway depot. He was a deeply religious man and raised his children in the Orthodox faith. Their family had seven children of their own and one adopted girl. The family lived very modestly. Moreover, Vasily received a considerable salary, since railways were not so common, and railway workers at that time enjoyed the same respect as pilots during Soviet power, and their work was paid very well. For most of the year, the family lived in a service house at the railway depot, meaning there was no need to pay rent. And for the summer they went to the village, where they also didn’t need much money. But at the same time they always lived extremely modestly. Such a modest image did not correspond to the income of the head of the family. Many years later, the future patriarch asked his grandfather: “Where is all your money? Why didn’t you save anything either before or after the revolution?” The grandfather answered briefly: “I sent all the money to Athos.” Those. he kept for himself only what was needed for the most modest life, and sent all his money to the monastery.

In October 1917, the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia. Part of their ideological program was the fight against religion. Immediately after the coup, brutal persecution of the Church, arrests and murders of clergy began. As a result, by 1939, only about a hundred functioning churches remained throughout the country. What is happening at this time with Vasily Gundyaev? In the first four years after October revolution he was still at large. But soon he was arrested and exiled to Solovki for his fight against renovationism in the Church. Solovetsky camp special purpose - the notorious ELEPHANT - was created by decree of the Council of People's Commissars in 1923 on the territory of the Solovetsky archipelago. The ancient monastery, founded by the Monks Zosima and Savvaty Solovetsky, turned into one of the branches of the Gulag, which covered the whole of Russia with barbed wire. By the end of 1930, there were more than 70 thousand prisoners in this camp. And among them are academicians, professors, writers, poets, philosophers, actors. It was also a special place of exile for priests.

Vasily Gundyaev was one of the first Solovetsky prisoners. In prison, he worked as a mechanic and even repaired a stranded steamship sailing between the Solovetsky archipelago and the mainland. His cellmates treated him with respect. Vasily tried in every possible way to maintain communication with the bishops and priests who were in the camp. One of the prisoners of this camp was Archbishop Hilarion Troitsky, the closest assistant to Patriarch Tikhon. Patriarch Kirill says that amazingly Saint Hilarion is connected with his family through his grandfather Priest Vasily, also a confessor of God, who in the year 22 was imprisoned in the Solovetsky camp, where he met Saint Hilarion. He also knew other Russian hierarchs who were in prison. In total, he spent 30 years in prison and exile.

And he had a wife at home who raised eight children. How could they survive at that time? When he left, he could not help his family in any way, because he had never saved money. In parting, he said: “Don’t worry or despair, I will pray for you.” One day the situation reached the point where there was nothing left in the house. And mother even cried in despair because she didn’t know what to give the children for breakfast in the morning. We went to bed, suddenly someone knocked on the door. She opened it, frightened, thinking that now they had come for them or to take something away again. Some big guy came in and said: “Go, they brought it for you.” Frightened, she ran out into the yard, and there stood a cart with a bag of flour on it. And while she was dragging this flour, she returned - there was no one there. Where this flour came from - we can only guess. Apparently - through the prayers of Father Vasily.

After his release, Vasily was in an illegal situation for a long time. The only way to remain free is to hide from the authorities, that is, not get a job and not live in one place for a long time. And only at the end of the 40s was his position legalized. He was able to come to Leningrad. Patriarch Kirill remembers meeting his grandfather, how he and his mother met him at the Moscow station. The Patriarch writes: “I remember this scene well - I came out of the carriage, lean old man, I even thought he was an old man. With a huge black plywood suitcase. And mom ran to him: “Dad, dad, we’ll get a porter now!” And he was indignant: “What other porter?” - “Well, let me help you carry your suitcases.” Grandfather smiled, took off his belt, tied up the suitcase, shouldered the suitcase and walked away.

Vasily’s dream all his life was the priesthood. But the dream came true only at the end of his days - already in the Khrushchev era he was ordained as a deacon and assigned to the church in the city of Birsk. Then he was ordained as a priest and assigned to serve in a Bashkir village. Being an 80-year-old man, Priest Vasily zealously served God and the Church. Sometimes he walked 14 kilometers on foot to give communion to a sick person. After retiring, Father Vasily returned to the village of Obrochnoe in the former Arzamas province, where he and his parents had gone as a child. He died there on October 31, 1969. Among the clergy who participated in the funeral service were the son of Priest Vasily, Archpriest Mikhail Gundyaev, and two grandsons - Priest Nikolai, at that time a teacher at the Leningrad Theological Academy, and Hieromonk Kirill, a student at the same academy, the future patriarch.

Patriarch Kirill's father, Mikhail Vasilyevich Gundyaev, was born on January 6, 1907. Since childhood I wanted to become a priest. In 1926 he entered higher theological courses in Leningrad. At that time, it was the only theological educational institution in the country that had not yet been closed by the Bolsheviks. The famous St. Petersburg Theological Academy was closed almost immediately after the revolution, and theological pastoral courses were created instead. In 1920, they were transformed into the Theological Institute, among the teachers were many prominent professors of the St. Petersburg Academy.

He studied at the courses until the spring of 1928, when this last theological educational institution was closed. Mikhail was drafted into the army. He served in the army for two years and returned to Leningrad, wanting to enter medical school. But the only educational institution that one could enter after studying theological courses was a mechanical technical school. While studying theology courses, he already seemed to compromise himself before the authorities. After graduating from a mechanical technical school, he began working as a designer at the Leningrad plant named after. Kalinina. Then he graduated from the Leningrad Industrial Institute, and at the same time he met his future wife Raisa Vladimirovna Kuchina, a student at the Institute foreign languages. Both sang in the church choir. Patriarch Kirill recalls: “My father sang on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays in the choir of the Kyiv courtyard in St. Petersburg, on the Lieutenant Schmidt embankment. There, on the choir, he met my mother, who was also studying and working at that time. A few days before the wedding, the father is arrested and sent to Kolyma. Moreover, he had a premonition that this would happen, because the night before they went to the Philharmonic and listened to Bach’s Passions. When they left, the father, impressed by the music, said to the bride: “You know, it seems to me that I will be sent to prison.” - “How can you say that, we’re having a wedding?” - “Throughout the entire concert I had the feeling that I was going to be arrested.” The young man saw off the bride and, approaching own home, saw a car in which those who came for him were sitting. A search was conducted before the arrest. We found notes on theology in which the word “God” was written with a capital letter. Well, of course, this was enough to arrest him. On February 25, 1934, Mikhail Gundyaev was sentenced to 3 years in forced labor camps and sent to the Far East.

In 1937, after serving his full term, Mikhail was released and returned to Leningrad, where he worked at various enterprises. When the Great Patriotic War began in June 1941, Mikhail worked as a chief mechanic at one of the military factories. On September 8, the siege of Leningrad began. The Gundyaevs did not evacuate from the besieged city. My father worked at the factory, which continued to operate even during the blockade.

The blockade lasted 871 days, the city was practically cut off from the rest of the country and was subjected to regular artillery shelling. The data presented at the Nuremberg trials mentions the figure of 632 thousand - those who died in Leningrad during the siege. Mostly people did not die from bombing and shelling, they died a severe and painful death from starvation.

In the first months of the blockade, Mikhail participated in the construction of defensive fortifications and, as a result of hard work, quickly reached complete exhaustion. He was picked up on the street as if dead and brought to the morgue. Since the morgue was full, they laid him in the corridor. A nurse passing by accidentally touched the sheet with which he was covered, and, looking at the face of the deceased, she saw that the pupil had contracted when the sheet flew off. The woman screamed, and this saved the dying man. Publicity about sending a living person to the morgue could lead to disastrous consequences. The hospital management was scared. They began to feed Mikhail intensively so that there would be no noise. Having survived, from then on he could no longer serve or work in civilian work. He was sent as a specialist to Nizhny Novgorod, where he was involved in the acceptance of the T-34 tank. He worked in this post until Victory Day.

During the war years, the policy of the Soviet state towards the Church softened somewhat. On the very first day, Metropolitan Sergius addressed the people with a fiery appeal to stand up for the defense of the Fatherland and called for God's blessing on the Soviet army. At the request of Metropolitan Sergius, some bishops were returned from exile and appointed to the departments. Conversations became possible about the need to convene a council of bishops and about the opening of spiritual institutions.

These changes in the Russian Orthodox Church made it possible for Mikhail Gundyaev to fulfill cherished dream- become a priest. He wrote a petition addressed to Metropolitan Gregory of Leningrad, he was ordained and appointed to the Church of the Smolensk Icon Mother of God on Vasilyevsky Island. From 1951 to 1972, he changed a lot of churches. This track record looks quite good, but in fact his service was far from cloudless. Frequent transfers from one temple to another - this was a unique method of fighting the Church. After all, it takes time for a parish to be formed and a community to develop, so that a priest can delve into the lives of his parishioners. As soon as the authorities felt that a parish was forming somewhere, they transferred the priest to another place - in order to prevent people from uniting. At that time, the state declared a benevolent attitude towards the Church, since the authorities were afraid to go too far, feeling a special spiritual need in the people during the war. They were afraid to use the methods of the 30s.

Another form of struggle against the Church was material oppression of the clergy. A whole campaign was launched against priests and parishes. The victims were mainly those priests who were popular among the people. Raifo - the district financial department - presented them with a demand to pay a tax, which was taken from the ceiling and was huge. A rayfo worker would come, name the unknown calculated astronomical amount of income that the parish supposedly received, and assign a completely arbitrary tax - for example, 51%. And the priest is obliged to pay half of his imaginary annual income. Patriarch Kirill recalls: “My father, like many, was invited to the raifo. He was told that he had earned some fantastic money and therefore he had to pay about 120 thousand rubles in tax.”

The family got into terrible debt. There were people who lent money. They sold everything that was surplus and not superfluous, and paid this tax. The Patriarch recalls: “My father paid this debt until his death, then he died and after his death his son Vladimir began to pay this tax. And I paid this tax until I was already sent to work in Switzerland.”

The family had three children. The eldest son Nikolai now serves as an archpriest in St. Petersburg. Sister Elena now heads an Orthodox gymnasium in St. Petersburg, where she for a long time worked in the library. Elena Mikhailovna recalls:

I don’t understand how we lived. As a child, I walked out to the front door, and on the handle hung a string bag with food, which was brought by ordinary parishioners. People of very modest means. Most often, this net contained a herring and a loaf of bread.

But, despite this, in parallel with serving at the parish, Father Mikhail continued to study theological sciences. In 1961, already an elderly man with many children, he graduated from the Leningrad Theological Seminary, in 1970 from the Leningrad Theological Academy, and at the age of 63 he defended his dissertation and became a candidate of theology. He died on October 13, 1974 in Leningrad. And 10 years later his wife died.

The middle child of Archpriest Mikhail and Raisa Gundyaev, son Vladimir, was born on November 20, 1946. His childhood and youth were spent in the city of Leningrad. At the age of seven, Volodya entered school. All children upon reaching the age of 10 were required to join a pioneer organization. It was children's version Communist Party, and at the age of 14 they joined the Komsomol. It was such a communist party for youth.

And in such a situation, of course, children from believing families in Soviet schools were outcasts. The Patriarch recalls: “I walked to school as if I were going to Golgotha. Very often I was called to teacher councils and debates.” Their family never hid their religious beliefs. And Vladimir did not join either the Pioneer or Komsomol organizations. And he studied very well - he was one of the best students at school. Those. he had to be sent to all sorts of shows, Olympiads - to report on his work with his successes. How do you report? Neither a pioneer nor an October child. The school director was at a loss, called Volodya and said: “Still, I insist that you join the pioneers.” To which Volodya replied: “Well, okay, if you need it so much, I can join the pioneers, but you agree that I will go to church in a red tie. Because I will go to church.”

The fact that Volodya did not wear a tie was very noticeable. He was constantly asked: “Why don’t you wear it?” Thus, the boy had to confess his faith all the time. Which he did with success, because even then he was distinguished by his eloquence and ability to find the right word. Without becoming either a pioneer or a Komsomol member, he did not become a dissident, as he himself writes. Because he loved his country and his people and did not want to criticize them to the whole world.

Vladimir's favorite school subject was physics, and he was also interested in other natural disciplines. Once, when they were studying Darwin’s theory, the children, apparently they had already talked about this topic both with Volodya and among themselves, shouted: “Let Gundyaev explain Darwin’s theory to us,” and prepared to watch how their friend would get out of the situation. The boy stood up, very competently outlined Darwin’s theory, and added that from the point of view of Soviet science, such a theory exists. And then he outlined his theory about the origin of species. And he emphasized that he does not want to impose anything on anyone and everyone must decide for themselves their views on this topic. Whether he wants to descend from a monkey or not - everyone decides for himself.

Being the best student at school, after the 8th grade Volodya left school. He also left home. This does not mean bad family relationships. They were good. But, as he himself explains, the young man could not allow his 15-year-old parents to provide for him. Those. he did not consider it possible to accept financial assistance from my parents, seeing how hard they live. Vladimir decided to start working and got a job on a geological expedition, while studying at night school. He worked on a geological expedition from 1962 to 1965. And after finishing school I wanted to enter the physics department of Leningrad University. Actually, he wanted to be a priest, but then he decided that he would first receive a higher secular education and acquire skills scientific work, and only then will enter the theological seminary. But his older brother advised him to talk with Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov), ​​who at that time was the Metropolitan of Leningrad and, in fact, the second person in the Church. Patriarch Kirill recalls: “On the eve of the meeting I could not sleep, I was so worried. I rode to the Lavra by trolleybus, and with each stop the excitement intensified. With trepidation I entered the bishop’s office. But he greeted me so sincerely that there was no trace of timidity left. After listening to me, he said: you know, Volodya, there are a lot of scientists in our country. If you put them one after another, the chain will reach Moscow. But there are few priests. And besides, it is unknown whether we will be able to admit you to the seminary after college. Because no one knew how things would go further. The liquidation of religious institutions was not completely ruled out. He says: “So go straight to the seminary.”

It is worth telling about Vladyka Nicodemus, because the patriarch considers him his teacher and a person who had a very great influence on him. His Holiness puts Metropolitan Nikodim on the same level with such outstanding representatives of the Russian hierarchy as Peter Mogila, Metropolitan of Kiev, or Metropolitan Filaret Drozdov. And Bishop Nikodim came from a working-class family. At the age of 17, he was already ordained a deacon and tonsured a monk. Then he very quickly made a church career and in 1959 he was already deputy chairman of the department for external church relations. The bishop's assumption of this position coincided with the beginning of the next round of persecution of religion. In 1958, Communist Party leader Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev initiated a campaign against the Church. He promised that he would build communism in 20 years, and in 80 he would show it on TV last priest. At that time, it was announced that Gagarin flew in space and did not see any God, therefore He does not exist. They probably expected to see God as an old man sitting on a cloud.

In order to completely discredit the Church, priests began to be asked to renounce God and engage in propaganda of scientific atheism. This was to demonstrate to the people that the Church was falling apart. For this ignoble mission, they looked for, as a rule, those clergy who were banned from serving or had some canonical violations. On December 5, 1959, the Pravda newspaper published an article in which the former archpriest, professor at the Leningrad Theological Academy, Alexander Osipov (please, not to be confused with Alexei Ilyich Osipov, professor at the Moscow Theological Academy), renounced God and the Church. He had previously been banned from the priesthood for his second marriage and continued teaching. And so, having become an atheist, he turned all his gifts to denouncing “religious prejudices.” This renunciation of Osipov and other priests hit the Church hard, which nevertheless was not afraid to adopt a resolution to deprive the traitors of their holy orders and excommunicate them from church communion. In 1960, the conference “Soviet Public for Disarmament” was held in Moscow, in which representatives of the international community participated. Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy (Simansky) made a speech there and said: “The Russian Orthodox Church speaks to you through my lips. This is the church that served the Russian state in the fight against foreign invaders both during the Time of Troubles and in Patriotic War. And she remained with the Russian people during the last world war. True, despite all this, the Church of Christ, which considers its work to be good for people, suffers attacks and reproaches from people. And yet she fulfills her duty, calling people to peace and love.” This speech of the patriarch is said to have had the effect of a bomb exploding. Before this, they were afraid to openly say that there was oppression against the Church in the USSR. According to the memoirs of Metropolitan Nikolai (Yarushevich), such an open statement to the whole world was made for the first time since the time of Patriarch Tikhon. The same Metropolitan Nicholas was declared the culprit of the scandal and the scapegoat, because he composed the patriarch’s speech. As a result, he was removed from his post as chairman of the department of external church relations. Here we must remember that all appointments and removals were carried out not by church, but by secular authorities. The 30-year-old Archimandrite Nikodim Rotov was appointed to the position.

In 1948, the Russian Orthodox Church refused to join the World Council of Churches, but now, on the initiative of Metropolitan Nikodim, it joined because, as the patriarch says, the department for external church relations was a float, as if holding the entire Church.

On the one side, Soviet state External church activity was necessary because it indirectly testified to the presence of religious freedom in the country. The logic is simple: if there are priests abroad, then there is religious life, if there is religious life, then the accusations of oppression are unfair. Those. from a propaganda point of view, it was beneficial for the government that the Church had the opportunity to carry out foreign relations. But from an ideological point of view, he did not need this. Because they went abroad real priests, not figureheads. And such contacts provided a support system for the Russian Orthodox Church.

In such difficult conditions, the ministry of the young monk Vladimir began. He became a monk early - at the age of 22. I didn’t make the decision right away; I thought about it. There were people who not only dissuaded me, but advised me to think seriously. In particular, his teacher at the academy, when he learned about Vladimir’s intention to cut his hair, said: “Now you are 20 years old, and then you will be 30, 40, 50, 60, and you must answer not only for your 20-year-old self, but and for the people you will become over time. You should think about this too.”

The future patriarch set himself a certain deadline: if by this time I do not meet a girl whom I want to marry, then I will take monastic vows. He did not meet the girl and took monastic vows. And he was 22 years old at that time.

When Vladimir first entered the seminary, Metropolitan Nikodim invited him and said that he would be his novice and personal secretary. The young man began to refuse, saying that he could not combine his studies and the difficult work of the Bishop’s secretary. Metropolitan Nikodim replied that he felt in him great forces. Vladimir began studying according to an individual program (for two years) and performing the duties of a secretary. And having already taken monastic vows, he again asked the bishop for advice: where to find time for everything. The Metropolitan replied: “You must organize your life in such a way that you have absolutely no free time. You should fill all your time with useful things, then it will be easier for you, and you will have time to do everything.”

He was tonsured on April 3, 1969 with the name Cyril in honor of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril, the enlightener of the Slavs. And already in student years he began to participate in the international activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. When Sendismoz, a worldwide brotherhood of Orthodox youth, was created in 1971, Bishop Nicodemus sent Kirill to a conference where the Russian Church was to announce whether it would join this youth organization or not. Bishop Nikodim gave Kirill two letters: in one letter it was written that we agree to join this organization, in the other - that we reject the invitation. The young monk had to go, listen to all the speeches and understand what was being offered to us, on what terms, what it would look like, whether there was a threat here, whether there were any canonical violations in communicating with them - and make a decision himself. Those. Even then he was entrusted with such responsible decisions. And on September 12, 1971, he was appointed representative of the Moscow Patriarchate at the World Council of Churches in Geneva. (That's only when he stopped paying his father's debts).

The temple at the representative office was very modest. And at first there were very few people. But with the advent of a new rector, the temple began to fill with parishioners. One day, a high-ranking official from our embassy came to him and asked him to marry his wife. But he asked: “Just for God’s sake, don’t tell anyone. Because I will be in very big trouble." After a while, another embassy worker comes and says: “I want to get married to my wife, but you don’t tell anyone and under no circumstances tell my boss,” and says the name of the person who first came to the bishop to get married. It’s a funny incident, but the future patriarch then thought: “Lord, we live in a kingdom of distorting mirrors. Two Orthodox man, who could be close friends, are separated by fears and prejudices.” This story made a very big impression on him, and even now it is noticeable how much effort he devotes to overcoming the division of Christians.

He became the rector of the Leningrad Theological Academy at the age of 28 - the youngest in the history of the academy. At the same time, he was elevated to the rank of Bishop of Vyborg and made vicar of the Leningrad diocese.

After 10 years of his quite successful leadership, suddenly an order came to transfer Archbishop Kirill to Smolensk. Just like that, one day, you can say. The Patriarch writes: “Of course, it was a resignation, a demotion. And the first person who set me up correctly at that moment was His Holiness Patriarch Alexy." Since then, they not only worked together, but also became very close people. Then Bishop Alexy said the following words: “None of us can understand why this happened. From the point of view of human logic, this should not have happened. But it happened. And only then will we find out why all this was necessary.” Now it has become known from archival sources that the initiators of the sudden transfer from Leningrad to Smolensk were secular authorities. But, of course, all this was providential - before that he worked in the power structures of the Church, in the capital cities of Moscow and Leningrad, and then he ends up in Smolensk and is engaged in the restoration of churches and all the work that he will also have to know, already being a patriarch. In this way the Lord was preparing him for future service.

Another reason for Archbishop Kirill’s transfer was his protest against the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. He, as a member of the executive committee of the World Council of Churches, together with Metropolitan Elijah of Sukhumi, contributed to the adoption of a resolution that condemned the invasion. It has now become known that one of the initiators of Bishop Kirill’s resignation was General Oleg Kalugin, who at that time worked as deputy head of the KGB department for Leningrad. Subsequently, he turned into an ardent critic of the Soviet regime and left for the United States.

We remember Bishop Kirill as chairman of the department for external church relations. And when Patriarch Alexy died and Metropolitan Kirill was elected patriarch, everyone, of course, began to compare them. Many said: there is too much of him, he talks too much. Here you need to understand that they had absolutely different time compared to Patriarch Alexy. Patriarch Alexei’s main task was to renew the life of the Church, build and restore churches. And now we have enough churches built compared to how many there were. Now we need to think about who will fill these temples. We must strive so that people perceive the temple not as Russian folk tradition, but studied and understood the word of God and lived according to its commandments. Previously, priests dealt mainly with older people. The parishes were small, but they were made up of churchgoers who were familiar with the Gospel and understood what the priest was talking about. Now people have come to churches who have lived most of their lives without a church. It is difficult for them to understand the abundance of information pouring in on them; they need help. Therefore, new ways and forms of communication are required so that misunderstanding or indifference does not drown out the awakened voice of God in these people. Let us thank the Lord for not abandoning us with his mercy, sending our Church an educated, open-minded patriarch who knows how to attract the attention of any audience.

Patriarch Kirill

Patriarch Kirill (Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev) is the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III and II degrees, Friendship of Peoples, Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, II degree, St. Sergius Radonezh I and II degrees. Honorary President of the Academy of Russian Literature and Honorary Doctor of the St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University. The author of a number of books and publications in periodicals, as well as the author and host of the TV show “The Word of the Shepherd” on Channel One.
Biography of Patriarch Kirill: early years:
The future metropolitan was born on November 20, 1946 in Leningrad. Kirill’s biography and the type of his activities were largely predetermined family tradition: both his father and grandfather were also priests. Grandfather, Vasily Stepanovich Gundyaev, was repressed for church activities and exiled to Solovki. Father, Mikhail Vasilyevich Gundyaev, was ordained a deacon in 1947; he was also repressed and sentenced to three years in the camps on charges of political disloyalty. Kirill's mother, Raisa Vladimirovna Gundyaeva, taught at school German. The elder brother, Nikolai Gundyaev, is an archpriest, professor at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, rector of the Transfiguration Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
Already in school years the future patriarch showed extraordinary efficiency and hard work, combining successful studies with work as a cartographic technician in the Leningrad complex geological expedition of the North-Western Geological Directorate. After graduating from school in 1965, he entered the Leningrad Theological Seminary, and in 1969 he was tonsured a monk and given the name Kirill. After graduating from the Leningrad Theological Academy, Kirill was awarded a candidate of theology degree.
In the 70s, Kirill’s biography was marked by important events. He teaches theology at the Leningrad Theological Academy, while simultaneously working as the personal secretary of Metropolitan Nikodim of Leningrad and Novgorod. In 1971, Kirill was elevated to the rank of archimandrite, becoming a representative of the Moscow Patriarchate under World Council Churches in Swiss Geneva. There, in Geneva, he is the rector of the stauropegic parish of the Nativity Holy Mother of God. At the very end of 1974, Kirill was appointed rector of the Leningrad Theological Academy and Seminary, then chairman of the diocesan council of the Leningrad Metropolis. In 1978, he began work as deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations. Since the 70s, the future patriarch has been regularly invited to European educational institutions to give lectures: the Ecumenical Institute in Bosse (Switzerland), the University of Helsinki, the Orthodox Seminary in Kuopio (Finland). This practice will continue in the future.
1984 becomes a landmark year for Kirill’s biography: the future head of the Orthodox Church was appointed Archbishop of Smolensk and Vyazemsky (in 1989 this title was replaced by a new one - Archbishop of Smolensk and Kaliningrad). Largely thanks to the efforts of Kirill, more than 150 churches were restored and built in the Smolensk and Kaliningrad regions, and the first theological school in the post-war period was opened in Smolensk (since 1993 - a theological seminary).
Biography of Patriarch Kirill: mature years:
In 1989, Kirill became metropolitan, in 1993 he began work as co-chairman and then deputy head of the World Russian People's Council. As part of official delegations, Kirill participates in a number of peacekeeping actions, helps to establish inter-Christian and inter-Orthodox relations, and visits all local Orthodox churches. The activities of the future patriarch were awarded an honorary international award - the International Lovi Peace Prize. And in 1994, another important event took place in Kirill’s eventful biography: he became the author and host of the television program “The Word of the Shepherd,” popular among viewers.
In the 2000s, Metropolitan Kirill was the chairman of the Synodal working group to develop the concept of the Russian Orthodox Church on church-state relations and problems modern society, member of the presidiums of the Interreligious Councils of Russia and the CIS, chairman and co-chairman of many international conferences. He also continues to be active teaching activities and becomes an honorary professor and doctor of several universities: Astrakhan, Smolensk, St. Petersburg Polytechnic, honorary doctor of political science from the State University of Perugia and honorary doctor of theology of the Christian Academy of Warsaw.
Without a doubt, one of the most important events in Kirill’s biography was his election to the patriarchal throne. After the death of Patriarch Alexy II in December 2008, Kirill was elected Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne by secret ballot. On January 27, 2009, the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church elected Kirill Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. He received 508 votes out of 677, that is, more than 70%. On February 1, 2009, the enthronement of the patriarch took place in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The President and Chairman of the Government of Russia, the head of the Roman Church sent their congratulations to the new patriarch catholic church Pope Benedict XVI, as well as other religious and secular figures. During 2009, Patriarch Kirill visited with official visits Ukraine, Belarus, as well as a number of Russian cities.

Look all portraits

© Biography of Patriarch Kirill. Biography of the clergyman Patriarch Kirill. Biography of Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill.

Actually, there are many links on the Internet on this topic, whoever has written about it, from Deacon Kuraev to Stas Sadalsky:
http://blagin-anton.livejournal.com/46223.html
http://wap.nazionalizm.forum24.ru/?1-8-0-00000049-000-0-0-1251218670
http://irizz.livejournal.com/117597.html
http://i-hate-the-snow.livejournal.com/46649.html
http://www.luchmir.com/Declarations/2Slovo09.htm
http://forum.dpni.org/archive/index.php/t-36574.html?s=
http://3rm.info/index.php?newsid=1294

This is almost a recognition for future generations, isn't it?

I was interested in the words of A. Nevzorov in his interview on Echo this week:

O. Bychkova – In the history of modern Russia, all murders are mysterious. Because 20 years have passed since Listyev was killed and nothing is still clear.

A. Nevzorov – Yes, everything is clear there. There, simply no one will stir up that pile anymore, because in fact, both the customers and the performers have all been dead a long time ago. And there is, for example, the death of Ridiger, Alexy II, where not even a criminal case was initiated. Where was it released with such soft brakes, besides, I will tell you as an anatomist that in order to crush the posterior ear vein by hitting a toilet or some hard surface, in a small room, you need to hit this hard surface 15 times, and each time do this with increasing force. Because it is very well protected, and it has, as anatomists know, such unpleasant slipperiness. And there wasn’t even a criminal case. And no investigative experiments or anything at all.

Here's more about it:

About how the High Priest of Putin’s Reich, Patriarch Kirill, amassed his billion-dollar capital on speculation in tobacco and alcohol and oil (exempt from taxes and excise taxes) in the dashing 90s, how he, the head of the gangster empire of the Russian Orthodox Church, eliminated and liquidated his competitors, many have already written. Yes, yes, in those same dashing 90s, about which he once put it this way:

"The fact that a huge role in correcting this the crookedness of our history(the dashing 90s) were played by you personally, Vladimir Vladimirovich. I would like to thank you. You once said that you work like a slave in the galleys, with the only difference being that the slave did not have such a return, but you have a very high return.”

All patriarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, including the current one, are KGB officers:

During the criminal tobacco war of the 90s, the winner of which was the future Patriarch, and then the head of the shadow business of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Gundyaev, many people were killed, including Zhirinovsky’s assistant Gennady Dzen, a bandit from Smolensk, the head of Roscontractpostavka, and another his assistant, Alexander Frantskevich. Zhirik himself also took part in this war. In those years, Gundyaev was assigned the thieves' pogonyalovo "Tabachny", but now he is more often called by another nickname - Lyzhneg, because he loves to go skiing in the soulless geyrop country of evergreen doormen of Switzerland, where he has his own villa, to which he flies on his own plane .

Materials from the KGB archives, studied in 1992 by a parliamentary commission headed by dissident priest Fr. Gleb Yakunin, revealed that most of the church hierarchy had ties to the secret police.

62-year-old Kirill Gundyaev wore code name"Mikhailov", and Filaret was identified as agent "Ostrovsky". It is suspected that Kliment worked for the KGB under the pseudonym "Topaz".

Metropolitan Filaret, appointed Metropolitan of Minsk in 1978, was the head of the Department for External Church Relations in the eighties. In 1989, this powerful structure was headed by Metropolitan Kirill.

In addition to the villa in Switzerland, the Tobacco Ski-Patriarch has palaces in Peredelkino, in the Danilov Monastery, in Gelendzhik, next to Putin’s palace, and a penthouse with a terrace in the House on the Embankment - overlooking the Cathedral of Christ the Savior:

And the ex right hand His Eminence - Bishop Victor (in the world - Pyankov) now, having stolen, lives in the sinful States as a private person. Surely he indulges in fasting and prayers and, as Zhvanetsky said, “he’s terribly sorry.”

Read more in Novaya Gazeta, and also or see for yourself:

Since then, Gundyaev’s palace near Gelendzhik, for the sake of which a protected forest of red and other unique trees was cut down, has long been built. This is how the main priest of Russian morality lives:

Kirill’s residence, which occupied the entire territory from the sea to the highway, not only “gnawed off” half a kilometer of public shoreline and road, but also blocked people’s last opportunity for safe access to the forest and cemetery. Now they need to make a detour not a kilometer long, but three kilometers (!), one of which is along the highway.

This road was called “The Road of Death” because people die on it.
And all so that someone could stick out their belly and no one could see it.

When the Rev. Comrade came from Gebnya. Gundyaev, who replaced Alexy II, who was killed by him, the area of ​​the residence increased 10 times (!), and 12.7 hectares of the State Forest Fund, covered with relict Pitsunda pine, were transferred for development, cutting down and complete fencing of the church, which were to be built up, cut down or fenced off THE LAW PROHIBITS IN PRINCIPLE.

About how community long years tried to fight against all these lawlessness, read, there are a lot of details, links, photographs and documents there.

The Patriarch still loves not only to teach people about life (well, for example: “ It is very important to learn Christian asceticism... Asceticism is the ability to regulate one’s consumption... This is a person’s victory over lust, over passions, over instinct. And it is important that both rich and poor possess this quality"), but also to brag about corruption and brand corrupt officials:

Asceticism is a good thing, especially when your fortune is 4 times greater than that of Rottenberg Sr. and 8 times that of Rottenberg Jr., and this does not even take into account the cost of the almost billion-dollar palace in Gelendzhik.

Such an ascetic Caudla...

P.S. As he writes famous philosopher Boris Paramonov, what Patriarch Gundyaev has in common with the spiritless geyropa is not only that he skis there, like Pastor Shlak. As it turns out, the patriarch himself is:
“We could talk about similar scandals in the Russian Orthodox Church. But here Deacon Kuraev has already said a lot. Except to remember that Metropolitan Nikodim (Rotov) of Leningrad was a homosexual, which everyone knew about, even my church-going mother-in-law. The current patriarch was with him, as they say in church language, “a night cell attendant” or, as it is written in Wikipedia, “performed the obedience of a personal secretary.”